On October 11, 2017, clergy presented a letter to have Mr. Ashjian removed as board president and/or censured. It is clear to us that the only Board Member willing to act upon this is Christopher De La Cerda. Mr. De La Cerda has heard the pain of our community that Brooke Ashjian has caused with his vile and divisive words. Mr. De La Cerda has petitioned the Superintendent Bob Nelson to move the presentation we made at the October 11th School Board meeting from "Item B" (conference and discussion) to "Item A" (consent: the board voting on censure and/or removal from Brooke Ashjian the title "president) or a still “B” item which the Board can act upon. Regardless of an “A” item or “B” item, we want a vote. We need to act by TOMORROW (Oct 20th) to get this on the Agenda for next Wednesday (October 25th).

ONLY VOICES INUNDATING THE SUPERITENDENT’S OFFICE WILL MAKE THIS SO.

Please e-mail Superintendent Bob Nelson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and kindly request he allow a vote on the October 25th meeting.

If we do not hear from the Superintendent by 4pm, tomorrow, we must push for it to be on the Board agenda for November 8th.

Fresno Unified trustees will discuss the censure or removal of Brooke Ashjian as board president on Wednesday, October 11th. The meeting comes just after the district released emails that show the embattled official praising anti-LGBT advocates who support him and saying that Christians are under attack and “must unite.”

The emails, made from Ashjian’s Fresno Unified account, were released by the district on Sept. 29 after LGBT Fresno filed a public records request.

Full records can be viewed here.

Article continues at The Fresno Bee.

Lee Morris, whose club 708 / Deja Vu / The Express gave many in our community a place to call home, passed away October 4th. He was a long time member and supporter of the LGBT community and its organizations.

Memorial Service will be held Saturday, October 14th at 10:00 a.m. At First Congregational Church of Fresno "The Big Red Church" 2131 North Van Ness Blvd.

From Lesa, Lee's daughter: I come to you with a heavy heart and some difficult news. My Dad lost his battle with cancer yesterday. He passed away peacefully in his sleep as loved ones kept a constant bedside vigil. 
My Dad loved and cherished all of you: his friends, family, community and loved ones. 
We will be planning a service to celebrate his life and I will post the details here within a few days. 
My thoughts and prayers are with all of you as I know yours are with me. I can feel the love

RIP Lee Morris, I will always cherish our talks on the patio at Deja/Express while enjoying a great bbq. You will be truly missed. ~ Tony Lane

One of the strongest people I’ve ever known, peacefully passed away last night. I’m so blessed to have been able to get to know you. Your words of encouragement always meant the absolute world to me. Rest In Peace, Lee. ~ Cara Coronado

Words can't describe the great loss to myself and our community in the passing of Lee Morris. The Deja Vu / Express / 708 was the first gay club experiences for many of us. Lee was a true friend to many and gave to the community even when it was tough to do. Your kindness and generosity will not be forgotten. Rest In Peace, Lee. ~ Jason Scott

Read more: Fresno LGBT community mourns Lee Morris

As a child, I was often teased for my blond hair and light skin.  Yes, I really did have blond hair. Other kids called me High-Yellow, Half-breed, and Cornbread.  They called me Cornbread because they said my skin tone matched the color of Cornbread.  If they were really mean, they called me an Albino.  This usually got their asses kicked by my big sister, but the words still hurt. 

Back in my day, nobody understood the ramifications of bullying.  It was considered to be just what kids did on the playground.  Was it to the extent that children bully other children today?  I would venture to say yes.

At fifty something years old, I still remember those words as if it was yesterday.  I remember the fear I felt of not wanting to get off the school bus because I knew the minute the bus pulled away from the stop, that bully would emerge out of nowhere.  He and his pack of goons would be willing and ready to have their fun.  I took it every single day until one day they attacked me in the school hallway.

I was sitting in the principal’s office that morning, facing suspension and that dreaded call to my mother, when I finally came clean. I whipped the snot out of that Kevin kid because I’d had enough. I pounded his head repeatedly on the floor and with each thud, a release of energy poured out of my body.  I had snapped at the age of fourteen!

The long-term effects of bullying are far-reaching and long lasting.  I had anger issues after this and didn’t know how to free myself from them.  Couple this with the realization that I was coming to terms with my attraction to the same-sex, and being an African-American in a predominantly white, upper-middle-class neighborhood, I was becoming a hot mess by the age of sixteen or seventeen.   Suicide is the third-leading cause of death for 15- to 24-year-olds, and most teens do not spend a long time planning to kill themselves.  Instead, they slide down the slope of despair rather quickly and act impulsively, often with finality.  As a parent, if your child is struggling with this despair, time is not on your side.

If not for a mother that saw that I was very different than my brothers, and a father who was a strong communicator, I didn’t tragically take my life because of the overwhelming hopelessness and the feelings of isolation I was experiencing.  Also, in a family of seven children, you are your own village. I had a village of love and acceptance.

You might remember your mother telling you when you were a child, “Sticks and stones will break your bones, but words will never hurt you.”  In today’s world, this couldn’t be more of a lie than it was fifty years ago.  Words do hurt, and if heard enough times, repeatedly, they will leave an internal scar that can last a lifetime and even be fatal.  The struggle is not about developing a thicker skin, or not being so sensitive.  The struggle is about survival.

We live in a society that thinks it’s okay to say whatever ‘they’ want.  That it’s ‘their’ right.  We see this even more so with the internet.  Cyber bullying is on the rise. There are those that love to do nothing more than show off their self-imagined intelligence by being critical of others in a comment or thread. They believe that being super critical of someone else gives them power.

I have learned that in our cyber world, that if you disagree with someone’s post, it is best to just keep your mouth shut and keep scrolling.  You are not required to reply to everyone’s post or comment. Don’t be mean, don’t make an ass of yourself, and don’t be a Cyber Bully.  If you wouldn’t say it to their face in a conversation (usually because you realize it is rude, inappropriate, or hurtful), then don’t write it!

As most of you already know, I write Male/Male Romance with real emotions that represent a moral dilemma that the characters face in pursuit of love.  In Ancient House of Cards, Ian dealt with his own mother’s bigotry and Father Sebastian had to contend with the homophobic realities of the Church.  In Before Sunrise, the bigotry and bullying was a reflection of what is currently playing out on college campuses every day, discreetly and not so discreetly. In my latest novel, Come To The Oaks, Dexter, the plantation overseer, exerts his violent bullying behavior on the slaves in his charge to keep them in a state of constant fear and compliance.  My current Work-In-Progress, Diego’s Secret deals with the issues of illegal immigration and our society’s response on the matter.

The Dalai Lama once said, “This is my simple religion. There is no need for temples; no need for complicated philosophy. Our own brain, our own heart is our temple; the philosophy is Kindness”.

When I started my publishing company, Cornbread Publishing, I chose its name to show those bullies that they didn’t win, they never had, and it was time to tell them.   I love my cornbread tone of skin--- it is me.  I am empowered, I am whole, and I choose to own my past and my destiny!   My books are about the underdog, the marginalized, the disenfranchised, and those with no voice.  Love is amazing and it is for everyone. Some of us have to fight harder for it, but in the end, we too, have our Happily Ever After.

Well, I see where Donald Trump’s daughter-in-law is hosting a “news” show on Facebook, to give supporters the "real” scoop on the administration’s greatness... Since Trump’s vast accomplishments appear to have escaped the notice of credible journalism outlets, the family evidently felt the need to give the base a more flattering version of events in Washington.

This week, meanwhile, saw the debut of Trump TV: a Web-based broadcast of “real news” by Kayleigh McEnany, a pro-Trump pundit formerly of CNN.

In the first installment, she announces, in front of a Trump-Pence campaign backdrop in Trump Tower: "President Trump has created more than 1 million jobs... President Trump has clearly steered the economy back in the right direction... President Trump is finally putting the American worker first... President Trump is dedicated to honoring these men and women who fought valiantly for our country.”

Former U.S. ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul tweeted: “Wow. Feels eerily like so many state-owned channels I’ve watched in other countries.”

Shades of Mike Pence...

Much more concerning, Jared Kushner recently revealed that before the election, the Trump campaign had made a deal with Sinclair Broadcasting (Fox News’ less-recognized Evil Twin):

Kushner said the agreement with Sinclair, which owns television stations across the country in many swing states and often packages news for their affiliates to run, gave them more access to Trump and the campaign, according to six people who heard his remarks.

In exchange. Sinclair would broadcast their Trump interviews across the country without commentary. Kushner said. Kushner highlighted that Sinclair, in states like Ohio, reaches a much wider audience — around 250,000 listeners — than networks like CNN, which reach somewhere around 30,000.
“It’s math,” Kushner said according to multiple attendees.

Sinclair, a Maryland-based company, is a politically conservative network of local news outlets; it was the subject of a scathing take-down by John Oliver, on a recent episode of Last Week Tonight.

Local stations in the past have been directed to air “must run” stories produced by Sinclair’s Washington bureau that were generally critical of Obama administration and offered perspectives primarily from conservative think tanks. The Washington Post reported in 2014.

I’m sure it is merely coincidental (cough, cough), but following the election. Politico reported Sinclair Broadcast Group is expanding its conservative-leaning television empire into nearly three-quarters of American households — but its aggressive takeover of the airwaves wouldn’t have been possible without help from President Donald Trump’s chief at the Federal Communications Commission.

Sinclair, already the nation’s largest TV broadcaster, plans to buy 42 stations from Tribune Media in cities such as New York, Chicago and Los Angeles, on top of the more than 170 stations it already owns. It got a critical assist this spring from Republican FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, who revived a decades-old regulatory loophole that will keep Sinclair from vastly exceeding federal limits on media ownership.

The change will allow Sinclair — a company known for injecting “must run” conservative segments into its local programming — to reach 72 percent of U.S. households after buying Tribune’s stations.That’s nearly double the congressionally imposed nationwide audience cap of 39 percent.

That’s a nice quid pro quo: Sinclair delivers favorable publicity for the Trump campaign, and is rewarded by an FCC rule change benefitting its bottom line-a change that will allow the company to reach nearly three-quarters of American homes with "news” favorable to Trump.

When does actual news, which is protected by the First Amendment even when it is wrong or misleading, become propaganda or fraud? And what do we do about it?

When two deeply deranged heads of state are playing "mine's bigger than yours” with nuclear weapons.there is some urgency in figuring this out.

Read more: The Word by Sheila

     Fresno Unified School District board of education president, Brooke Ashjian, 

     Ashjian has caused a great amount of controversy not only within the LGBT community in Fresno, but also nationally with the Human Rights Campaign, who demanded that Ashjian be removed from his current position. What is the crossing line for someone in a certain position to have their personal beliefs interfere with requirements of the law? Given the status of our national government, it may just be seen as another lawful debacle within a community. Why should this issue not be taken so lightly? Here’s why. Ashjian refuses to support the California Healthy Youth Act, a law requiring schools to provide lessons on abortion, birth control and LGBT relationships. As some citizens may see it as implementing these lessons into the students, it is no designed to do so. It simply provides students with an outlet of information rather than excluding those students who may benefit from those given lessons. Ashjian’s conservative and imprudent comments have and continue to go without providing an apology to the LGBT community, let alone the Armenian community for the unnecessary and unrelated comparison to the Armenian genocide; equivocating LGBT community activists to the Ottoman Turks. Many people from religious institutions have asked for Ashjian to step down as president of the board member. Aside from Ashjian providing comments on how he is fulfilling his duties, it seems that given his role and status of the FUSD board, he is using his power to an extreme advantage by implementing his own personal religious beliefs.

     With that, Ashjian seems to be taking full advantage in terms of his own personal finances. Last November, The Fresno Bee wrote an article regarding the California Fair Political Practices Commission investigating allegations of Ashjian failing to report numerous sources of income.

     Documents show that various local and in-state business contributions to Ashjian’s campaign back in 2014. Some of those companies were Wawona Packing Co. (Brent E. Smittcamp), Witbro Inc., Association Builders & Contractors, to name a few. Given the various companies that allowed him to collect close to about $30,000, how much more money did Ashjian fail to report? The ultimate question that leads to is, why did Ashjian fail to do so, causing a conflict of interest problem for someone who plays a significant role in FUSD? This is very detrimental to the community of Fresno because how can this individual who has an infinite amount of personal funds, owning multiple properties that value over a million dollars simply be one to represent families and students that are at a lower economic status? How can he simply understand and be knowledgeable of what health resources they should have available to them when he allows his conservative opinions to interfere? Given someone in his position, Ashjian should be well aware of how beneficial all health lessons are to FUSD students, but it is evident that his career and financial status causes him to be incomprehensible of different communities coming together and demanding that he step down from his position.  

      As everyone has the right to their own privacy, especially when it involves their finances, but given someone in Ashjian’s position, it is something that should not be dismissed or overlooked. It remains questionable as to what may have been the cause for the commission to have halted at the investigation and whether they will reopen given the current behaviors of Ashjian.

     Regardless, if people agree or disagree with the current and ongoing behavior Ashjian has personally expressed regarding the California Healthy Youth Act, his overall actions and capitalizing from his position of the FUSD board of education position, he doesn’t seem fit to continue upholding his position as president and when his term expires in 2018, we shall see what the future holds for not only Ashjian, but more importantly the different communities that help form the overall community of Fresno.

Tickets start at only $29

Beautiful – The Carole King Musical comes to the Saroyan Theatre October 24 - 29, 2017
Ticketmaster is the official ticketing source for Broadway In Fresno and the Saroyan Theatre.

Long before she was Carole King, chart-topping music legend, she was Carol Klein, Brooklyn girl with passion and chutzpah. She fought her way into the record business as a teenager and, by the time she reached her twenties, had the husband of her dreams and a flourishing career writing hits for the biggest acts in rock ‘n’ roll.  But it wasn’t until her personal life began to crack that she finally managed to find her true voice. 

Enter to Win a Pair of Tickets - Free!

Learn more about the performance

On October 21, 2017, WestCare California will be presenting the 6th Annual Fresno AIDS Walk & 5k run in support of the Living Room, a project of WestCare California.

Thanks to the efforts and generosity of our supporters and donors, previous year's events were a tremendous success and a wonderful tribute to those that we have lost and to those that are currently living with the virus. We hope to make this year's walk even bigger with your continued support. 

The walk will take place at Woodward Park's Park View Shelter and will also feature a 5K run. 

To register for the walk as a team or individual for FREE or for our 5k run, which will include a FREE participant shirt and race bib with the $25 registration fee, please visit: http://fresnoaidswalk.org/register.asp

New York Times columnist David Brooks is given to periodic meditations triggered by the political environment: recently, he mused at some length over "what moderates believe.”New York Times columnist David Brooks is given to periodic meditations triggered by the political environment: recently, he mused at some length over "what moderates believe.”I’m not ready to endorse Brooks’ entire definition, which is a bit too formulaic and pietistic for my tastes, but I do think that one sentence describes the fundamental difference between “wingers” and moderates:Moderation is not an ideology: it’s a way of coping with the complexity of the world.I would probably phrase this differently, but I agree that moderation is an approach, an attitude, an openness to complexity rather than a set of rigid beliefs. A moderate is someone who recognizes the increasing ambiguities of modern life, someone who can make peace with a world where there is less black and white and more shades of gray without feeling disoriented or panicky.Moderates use terms like “it depends” and “it’s more complicated than that.”
Moderates reject justifications for the use of violence in service of ideology: they recognize that whether it is the Nazis or the AntiFa who oppose them, a resort to the use of force places zealots outside the norms of acceptable political discourse, undermining both the rule of law and fundamental American principles.
The True Believers of both the Right and Left are the enemies of functioning government. These are the judgmental, "my way or the highway” purists who prefer losing to taking half a loaf, who don’t understand that sustainable progress is almost always incremental, who have learned nothing from the history of revolutions.The GOP has pretty much rid itself of its moderates-it has actually made “moderate” a dirty word - and the party’s current inability to govern despite controlling both houses of Congress and the Presidency is a direct result of its radicalization. Once-thoughtful elected officials now pander to the party’s rabid base in order to avoid being primaried-and it’s hard not to wonder if and when they’ll regret trading their souls and the tattered remnants of their integrity for another term in office.For their part, the Democratic Party’s purists are responsible for that party’s recurring "circular firing squads.” Here in Indiana, several have announced that they won’t support incumbent Democratic Senator Joe Donnelly because he is "insufficiently progressive." Their defection is likely to give Indiana a Republican zealot in his place - hardly an improvement, but evidently satisfying to those for whom ideological purity is more important than retaking the Senate. For the record, I am considerably more progressive than Donnelly, but he will vote against the upcoming attempts to eviscerate the social safety net in order to give huge tax cuts to the 1%, and every Republican running to replace him will enthusiastically vote for those measures. Should the Democrats retake the Senate (something they probably cannot do if Donnelly loses), Donnelly will also be a vote to replace Mitch McConnell-that alone is reason enough to support him. Politics has been called "the art of the possible." Moderates acknowledge that reality, and are willing to take something less than perfection if that "something less” is an improvement over the alternative.Come to think of it, perhaps “moderate” simply means "adult."

Read more: The Word by Sheila

Board trustee Claudia Cazares said the board “cannot and will not” ask Ashjian to step down, and does not support censorship.

Trustee Elizabeth Jonasson Rosas spoke out for the first time about Ashjian’s remarks.
“I firmly believe in love and equality. I don’t believe we can make someone gay by teaching them sex education or want to change their gender, for that matter."